What did Mom do ...

[Lorrae]

My mom is famous in the family for using baking soda and baking powder interchangeably, and putting a frozen pizza in the oven upside down. (Whats that burning... oh my gosh!)

 

[garlicjosh]

I believe that TV has made germ-a-phobes out of all of us. Mayo has been touted as a dangerous food if left on the counter to get warm. Commercially produce may, that's purchased in the store has plenty of vinegar and salt in it to stop most microbial action, at least for a couple hours on the counter.

I'm sure that one or two cases of mild food poisoning took place in my life time (running to the bathroom frequently), but within two hours, all symptoms were gone. And my immune system is probably stronger for it.

Besides, have you ever seen a tiger cook its meat before chowing down. or a lion, or even a house cat? I didn't think so. So why don't they get food poisoning from eating raw meat. And then there are the northern Eskimos, who never ate cooked meat. In fact, it was placed in the igloo, in an out of the way corner for several days, in the 45 to 50 degree range, and allowed to "tenderize" through natural biological action. And that's what they eat, every day of their lives. And with all the clothing they have to wear to keep warm, I would think a case of the runs would be seriously challenging.

Seeeeeey; Goodweed of the North

I couldn't agree more.
through out this whole post i'm like "but I've never gotten sick..EVER, from anything my mom did or my grandma"
and my mom has told me stories of my great grandma and grandpa and I shutter at the stuff I hear..but yet..no one got sick.
I blame the media for sure.

adding to the past conversation about snow...
all I recall of my child hood is massive snow forts and stashing soda outside and waking up n the morning to find out that -20 and a can of pepsi don't go well together...tis what happens when you grow up in Northern Wisconsin

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

My Mum made us the Austrian dish Germknodel

 

[justplainbill]

Steak tartare

 

[joesfolk]

Okay this is gross, just warning you. My mom used to tell a story of the day she was very mad at her brother. They were sitting down to eat a breakfast of corn flakes. Mom watched as his vacination scab (they were large in those days) fell off his arm and into his bowl. She just sat there and watched him eat the whole thing. Now you know why I am the way I am.

 

[Linda123]

I grew up similar to the same way you did, LPBeier. Each Mom had a distintive way to call their kids....My mom had a bell, another used a whistle, one just yelled, and another could make that real shrieky whistle with 2 fingers (which always impressed me and I've tried lots of times to do it but failed)...Good memories!

 

[roadfix]

Okay this is gross, just warning you. My mom used to tell a story of the day she was very mad at her brother. They were sitting down to eat a breakfast of corn flakes. Mom watched as his vacination scab (they were large in those days) fell off his arm and into his bowl. She just sat there and watched him eat the whole thing. Now you know why I am the way I am.

That's funny, but as a kid I used to pick and chew on my scabs.

 

[chopper]

I grew up similar to the same way you did, LPBeier. Each Mom had a distintive way to call their kids....My mom had a bell, another used a whistle, one just yelled, and another could make that real shrieky whistle with 2 fingers (which always impressed me and I've tried lots of times to do it but failed)...Good memories!

We had a big mercury light outside, and we knew in the summer to come in at night when it came on.

 

[cmarchibald]

Mom would let us lick the beaters when she was making cookies. That was always a good thing. Now however, can't do that. The raw eggs will give you salmonella! She would also thaw frozen meat in the sink and keep bacon grease under the sink. We were also big on tasting everything using the same spoon for everyone and using our fingers to scrape off the spatulas and then licking our fingers.

My mother did all of those things (letting us lick the beaters, defrosting meat in the sink, etc) and guess what....I still do! In fact I'm thawing some chicken in my sink right now, and I let my husband lick the beaters when I made banana nut muffins yesterday.

Whaddya know....I'm still alive.

About the only thing my mom did that I wouldn't do now (and she wouldn't either) is use wooden cutting boards for meat. I have 3 diff cutting boards now and only one is used for meat which I always sanitize immediately after using. My house here in the Philippines doesn't have running hot water, we have a small water heater hooked up in the bathroom for showers but otherwise everything is cold water (no dishwashing machine either!). So when I need to sanitize something I put on a pot of water to boil.

 

[Barbara L]

Real SNOW cones! a great memory for me too. I think I need to do that again next time it snows, although maybe not with the right soda pop. I hear that you can get the pop with real sugar in it in Mexico (not that I would be going there soon).

You can actually buy it here! At least in some places in WA state. I'm not a soda drinker but just remember the big yellow signs as I dashed down the soda aisle at the store a few weeks ago. I am pretty sure there was Pepsi, Coke and Mt Dew made with real sugar sitting next to the regular kind. There are probably more brands and flavors available that I've not seen.

If you have any Mexican stores or a Mexican food section in your grocery store, check there too. I know our local grocery stores and Super WalMart have them.

Barbara

 

[chopper]

Mom always let us lick the mixing bowl and the beaters from the mixer, and so...I always let my kids do the same. The first time my daughter-in-law made cookies for my son after they were married,she put the mixing bowl and beaters into the sink, and ran the water into it!My son was shocked and sad. Now they (and their two kids) lick away!

 

[Bigjim68]

The butcher where we traded sold everything from oysters to prime beef, and had one large butcher block in the shop. Chickens, pork, beef, were all cut up on the same block. It was wiped down between cutting jobs. I think this was normal.

Mom washed dishes in a sink filled with water. 1 fill per wash. A lot of people still do. Cross contamination had to occur.

If you were looking for a medium for culturing bacteria, you would invent the kitchen dish rag. Plenty of moisture, no sterilization. Good opportunities for inoculation.

Being avid hunters, we butchered our own deer and other animals. Used a DeWalt radial arm saw.

 

[n2cookin]

Canning is the biggest thing that I know which has changed greatly since my Mom and Grandmother did their canning. Wax was used to seal jelly. No water bath canning for jelly then. I remember sometimes you would open a new jar and there could be some mold under the wax. It was just scraped off and then the jelly used. No one ever got sick.

 

[Fabiabi]

My parents and grandparents had hygiene habits that people would find outrageous these days. Though as most people have pointed out in this thread nobody ever really got sick.